Development of green composites based on epoxidized vegetable oils (EVOs) with hybrid reinforcements: natural and inorganic fibers.

Abstract

BACKGROUNDThe overall aim of the work is to provide comprehensive means of predicting and characterizing the properties of principal hybrid polymer based composite architectures that can simultaneously yield results of practical utility. This is accomplished by comparing, whenever possible, the theoretical predictions for the effective properties to available experimental data.The present work is divided into two parts. Part I deals with the author's scientific achievements that enabled to characterize quantitatively the main effective properties of self-developed hybrid polymer based composite architectures and different theoretical and computer-simulation methods used for comparison. Part II identifies future directions for scientific and research evolution and development.The introductory chapter in Chapter I was reserved to the state-of-the-art in the subject intended to be covered with the main body of the PhD thesis. This was done on purpose to illustrate the importance of developed subject that is under continuous evolution and that expanded after herein contributions. It is noteworthy that significant advances have been made recently in the quantitative characterization of hybrid composite materials of any type both theoretically and experimentally.The general objectives (Chapter II) were underlined and concise delivered to give the reader a preview of the concepts that will be discussed specifically in the subsequent chapters. Indirectly, they point toward one of the main aims of this work, namely to provide a direction for systematically analysis of hybrid polymer based composite materials.Chapter III was dedicated to the brief presentation of individual materials' selection, manufacturing issues, details on hybrid microstructures and finally, some practical information on experimental devices and settings considered. Practically, reproducibility issue of the experimental data processing can be potentially addressed through sharing these particular information results.Chapter IV provides several theoretical models used deploying a multi-step homogenization scheme to apply for individual combinations and effective property under consideration. These theoretical models were selected due to their ability to describe the 'details of the microstructures' (i.e. constitutive volume fractions, orientations, sizes, shapes, spatial distributions and surface areas of interfaces, etc.) and ability to encompass particular information that can be ascertained in practice.In the light of above, particular concerns were given to those structure/property relations that can be easily understood by apprentices, unaccustomed researchers on engineering field and finally, to materials' designers bounded by cost and time to perform measures on their mechanical applications for all possible combinations, phase properties and microstructures aimed to be developed.Chapter V extensively approaches the effective mechanical, dynamical, thermal stability and conductivity, fire retardant and electrical conductivity of particular hybr...